


Raise Your Glass

by RunMarmiteRun



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 08:08:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18869182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunMarmiteRun/pseuds/RunMarmiteRun
Summary: Runner 36 disappears a lot...which can seem suspicious.  But really, even Vikings just need a nice cuppa from time to time.





	Raise Your Glass

I stared longingly at the cup on the shelf. Not yet. Too many things to do. It was such a dreary day, and I could feel the rising damp, especially since X - Elissa- and I were consigned to sharing a tent. Well, at least we had our tent back. Everyone being shuffled and shifted hither and yon due to nonsense and hysteria had made a big mess of things. I’d had to wash literally everything and that would have been annoying in the pre zom days but now...now it was basically backbreaking labor. Add to that the never ending supply runs and perimeter checks and even a couple of decoy missions and, well, by Thor’s Hammer, I just wanted one day lounging. Ah well, I could hear the stupid chickens we’d gone and salvaged making a lot of noise and there was stirring in the general vicinity, so if I wanted to make it to the latrines and the mess before there were endless lines I had better move.

I went through my early morning routine and then slipped back into the tent. Elissa was up and gone now, probably off to her morning. Except for certain specific runs she tended to help at the hospital with Maxine, apprenticeship to be a doctor basically. She’d been a nursing student or something but overseas so she’d come to us with a lot of advanced skills and it wasn’t like there were a lot of medical schools open at present. Elissa was a bit uptight, but always seemed surprised the couple of times I suggested treatments when she was puzzling over something or other. Maxine is definitely not open to alternative medicine but Elissa seems to understand we may be back to rose hips being our best available source of vitamin C soon and she never seems to question exactly where my knowledge base is coming from. She has started to ask me a bit about what is in my tea at night though, I’ve been making a tisane lately because this awful rising damp is just irritating me. I glance back up at the cup again. No, already being called for another bloody perimeter check. Why are they so active? It’s been wet, I thought they usually gave us a bit of a breather when it was wet out?

Ah well, now I was totally damp as well. I had braided my hair back and I had my swords rigged on my pack in case. Rising damp was worse than rain. The ground had gotten so saturated that it was like running on a sodden sponge, and then there was all the fog. Sort of like different types of fog even. I needed to stay focused - several runners had turned ankles or even knees due to slipping during this wet spell. I had heard all about it when Simon had done it - you’d think he was enthroned amongst warriors in Valhalla from his telling when you went to see him in the Rec room or mess - everyone in hearing distance was hearing of his valiant hobbling back to Abel, and he kept trying to make out that Five had made a pass at him as he lay on a couch, then overcome by desperation and fear of his demise he’d come up with a plan to save them both... Five rolled her eyes every time and kept walking, and I noticed that part of the story never seemed to be there when Sam was in the mess...but Elissa and a lot of the other younger girls were badly besotted with Simon. He was a show off and yeah, he was easy on the eyes, but I would have to be deep in my cups and it be something a lot stronger than tea to be really attracted to him. Focus, 36 - what is that shape moving out of the fog? You’re supposed to be doing a perimeter check and you’re daydreaming here.

I’d no idea that fog could be so dangerous until the apocalypse. Bad for driving, bicycling, better for sitting home and having a cuppa. Now as I pulled my sword out and got ready in case it was a zom, I thought fondly back on the days when a badly swerving vehicle and a few choice words coming from a driver or from me towards the driver were what I had to look for on a foggy day. My trainers squelched as I ran on toward the shape.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - why do you insist on carrying that ridiculous thing, 36? A nice pistol is much better.” It was Eight, not a zom after all. “You might fall on that and put an eye out.” I relaxed a bit, but felt my back teeth begin to grind. Sara always reminded me of my mum in more ways than one. I had no doubt that if she were find my bag of runes she would begin searching my tent to find whether I had letters from men stashed away or possibly glare at me if I reached for a glass of home brew at one of Simon’s parties.

“Good morning to you, too.” I lowered my sword but kept it out in case. “So I’m guessing you covered the other quadrant already?” Sara nodded, looking slightly smug. “Early and bright, can’t go letting things slide. All the fencing in order on your quadrant?” I nodded, biting back the sarcastic comment I wanted to make. It wouldn’t do to raise her hackles. “Right then, I’ll be off.” I squelched on, and Sara headed around the bend, no doubt to double check the area I’d just come from.

I continued on; I was sure Sara had already checked this area, so I just tried to loosen up and keep an eye out for possible items to scavenge or edible plants. There - another stand of dock. I wouldn’t pick it right now but I liked to track where things grew. And there, some foxglove. Hmm, have to be careful- I knew it could be used but we would have to be in pretty desperate straits and very carefully dosing to try to treat anything with that while we still had any access to modern medicine. Queen Anne’s Lace - another that was dodgy. This one, though - aha, lavender! I can use this for so many things! I stopped to gather a little and see if I might even be able to transplant one - and when I turned, another shape rising out of the fog.

“Ehwaz Tyr, Five! You’re quiet when you want to be!” I saw her kneel next to the plants I had been examining and have a quick look, then she nodded and smiled at me. She cocked her head questioning your, then motioned to the woods and pointed to me. “Yeah, sure, I finished my perimeter check. Should I let Sam know?” She nodded. I hit my headset. “Mr. Yao, you are not to encourage the runners to take any sort of initiative in the field. And please stop wearing that ridiculous orange monstrosity.” Sam came back on the coms. “Ha, ha, so funny, Thirty-Six. I’m guessing Five found you then?”

“Yeah, she’s asking if I want to go for a nice jaunt in the woods. Any clues for me?” Five was nice enough but the fact that she didn’t talk was something else. I sometimes wondered what the story was on that. She did have the big scar across her face and some burns and scars across her whole left side - I’d heard some folks mention a helicopter crash - and I knew that she’d been military at some point, she left her dog tags on all the time. Once in the showers I’d glimpsed part of a tattoo but she tended to keep it covered. I wondered if it was one of those anti zom tattoos like Sam had mentioned getting at the beginning of the outbreak- lots of people had them and some of them were pretty ugly amateurs work but others were actually fairly nice.

“That she did. We’re headed off into the woods. She give you notes?” Five would sometimes leave Sam a brief description or a scribbled map at least. She didn’t sign, and though she had on a few occasions tried to mouth words it was horribly difficult to understand, and generally left both of us frustrated. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with her brain, it seemed more like a really bad speech impediment. Maybe a result of the crash, hard to say. Sam chimed in. “Yes, she left me a note talking about heading back over toward the tequila factory. Says Janine made her miss out on free drinks and she feels like that was a mistake.”

I was a little surprised. “Wait, what tequila factory? You and Five are pulling my leg, where are we actually headed? If this is another one of those missions where we have to go dig through garbage...”

“No, there really is a tequila distillery out there. Janine was apparently offered free shots and the chance to wear a Union Jack sombrero, but turned it down.”

I was intrigued. British tequila? Well, it might be awful but free drinks were always a reason to go for a run. “Well, Five, lead on. Don’t wait up, Sam. If wearing a sombrero is what it takes I’ll be happy to do a hat dance and shout olé!”  
Five grinned at me and took off at a steady jogging pace into the woods.

It was about midmorning when we arrived at an industrial looking building. Several slightly shabby men were walking around the top. Five and I were both soaked, muddy feet, and the rising damp hadn’t helped my mood. “Hey, you’re the other lady that was with the snappish girl taking the census, right? I see you’ve brought a friend!” Five waved cheerfully and nodded. “Reconsider having a drink then?” I shouted up to him, “Five and I would be pleased as punch!” He leaned over the wall and grinned. “Well then, who might you be? Your friend doesn’t seem to be the talkative type, didn’t say much the other day either.” I smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, well, not much to talk about but zombies and the weather, right?” He laughed. “Come on to the side, there’s a door and we’ll let you up. Even have some Union Jack sombreros, get in a proper festive mood and have a fiesta in right style.” 

X was standing over me and my head felt like it was being stabbed by the bright light. “What, Elissa?” I groaned and rolled over. “Well, thought you might like to know that although Sam and actually Maxine were quite pleased with the amount of tequila that you and Five managed to haul back here, Janine is wondering if it was really necessary to have five men shouting “Viva la revolucion!” accompanying you to the gates to transport it yesterday evening. Also whether you might be able to ask them to leave now.” I looked around. I saw I was somehow back in my tent. I didn’t really remember getting back here. “Why can’t Five do it?” Elissa raises an eyebrow and almost smiled. “Uh...well, you know how Five has that music player she’s taken to carrying around as a makeshift noisemaker? She sort of went by the comms shack last night and put “Despacito” on repeat till Sam came out then started dancing in a sombrero while holding a bottle of tequila. I think she’s gone into hiding for a bit.”

I groaned again. “Wait...what did I do?” X just grinned over her shoulder. “I don’t know. I think people were too busy watching Sam try to decide how to react to the attempt at the serenade to notice you and Simon.” I looked at my teacup. Surely I had time for a cuppa first this morning.


End file.
